South of Surrender (Hearts of the Anemoi #3)
Laura KayePublished: May 28, 2013 (Entangled Select)
Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon

Reviewed by: Mary

Rating (out of 5): 4.5 stars

Chrysander, the God of the South Wind, is trying to hunt down his brother Eurus and convince him to turn himself in and turn over a new leaf. If he doesn’t, Chrys and two of his other brothers, one for each of the four directions, will have to kill him. After Eurus rips him a new one in a fight, Chrys falls onto poor Laney’s barn. She braves the storm to check on her horses and is quite surprised to find an extra occupant in one of the stalls. The attraction is instant and intense, once he changes back into his human form that is.

Of course, Chrys is a “one night only” kind of guy. Aren’t they always? When Laney takes such good care of him and puts herself at risk to help him, it awakes part of Chrys that he has been restraining for years. Doing all this while being almost totally blind, only makes him love and admire Laney more. Chyrs has recently seen two of his brothers settle down in happy relationships, and is starting to picture himself in a similar relationship with Laney. Unfortunately, Eurus fights dirty. When the battle spills over into Laney’s backyard again, Chrys starts to think that the safest thing for Laney is for him to leave. Is love worth the risk?

As someone who has not read the first two books in this series, I loved that I was able to pick up South of Surrender and instantly know what was going on without the obligatory ‘catch up’ chapter. The explanations of past events were concise and the introduction of characters was natural. I usually won’t pick up a book if I haven’t read the preceding books in the series, so this book has left me doubting my habits.

The only thing I did not like about this book is that it left the main plot line unresolved. I think that this is most likely the main story arc of the series and will probably only be resolved with the last book, but still, the author leaves you hanging.

When you are packing your beach bag this summer, be sure to throw South of Surrender in with your sunscreen. While you are lying in the beach, you can imagine the warm breeze on your skin is Chyrs in his elemental form. Whenever there is summer squall, you’ll know that more than thunder is rolling around in the clouds. And the next time you are in the hot tub, well, you are going to have to read the book for that one! Here’s hoping you have a really good privacy fence.

Sexual content: Graphic sex. Really, I blushed and everything.

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